The Impact of War-The 'Final Solution' Flashcards
What was the final solution?
A systematic massacre of 5-6 million people most of whom were Jewish; accelerated when Third Reich faced defeat in 1944
What were the origins of the Final Solution?
Hitler explicitly linked the war in Europe with the fate of the Jews; when war turned eastwards against the SU it was clear this would be war of racial annihilation; previous plans to send millions of Jews to Madagascar or Siberia had to be abandoned; Too many Jews in General Government of Poland; the urgency of these problems in 1941 led to radical new problems
When was the Wannsee Conference?
20th January 1942
What was the importance of the Wannsee Conference?
A meeting to inform senior bureaucrats of their roles in implementing the ‘final solution’ decision
What is the Wannsee Conference often misrepresented as?
The occasion when the final decision was taken to exterminate Europe’s Jews; the decision had already been taken beforehand
Who was NOT at the Wannsee Conference?
Hitler and Himmler were not in attendance
Who was the chairman of the Conference?
Reinhard Heydrich; most powerful man in the SS after Himmler
Who did Heydrich receive orders from?
Hermann Goering, empowering him to organise the preparations for the ‘Final Solution’ to the ‘Jewish Question’
How many people attended the Wannsee Conference?
15 high-ranking Nazi officials
What was concluded at the Wannsee Conference?
The deportation of Jews was no longer to vague destinations somewhere in Poland, but specific areas where there was an organised camp system; helped coordinate and accelerate mass killings
What happened when the war turned on Germany in 1942-43?
The mass killings were accelerated and given higher priority than military needs; Nazi propaganda become even more hate-filled than before
How was the intensification of Nazi propaganda war against the Jews paralleled with periods of crisis in Germany’s war effort?
- Spring 1943; After German surrender at Stalingrad in Feb 1943; Joseph Goebbels delivers epic ‘Total War’ speech in Berlin followed by massive propaganda drive
- Autumn 1943; When Germany suffered mass bombing raids and Red Army push back German forces similar surge of Anti-Jewish propaganda occurred
- Summer 1944; At time of Allied landings in France another surge
What did the Nazis do showing the acceleration of this ‘Final Solution’?
- Jewish populations of states such as France, Italy, Greece and Slovakia rounded up for deportation
- Jewish ghettos at Minsk and Vilnius destroyed
- In Feb 1944, remaining Jews of Amsterdam deported to Auschwitz
How did the Nazis try and cover up their mass killings?
- Crematoria at Auschwitz blown up
- Surviving prisoners pressed into forced marchers away from the Red Army
When did concentration camps begin to be death camps?
1942 to 1945
